World War: Bensaro
by DishonoredInk
Summary: Backing away from the window, Olivia grabbed her firearm off the table, making sure it was locked and loaded. An arm busted straight through the wooden door, and Olivia flinched, raising her gun in reflex. Zombies anyone?
1. Chapter 1

**_Authors Note: Hello, my lovelies. So if you like Zombies, and you like Bensaro.. this is for you. Today it's my honor to present to you the first part of.._**

**_World War: Bensaro_****.**

**(If you like it, please REVIEW, follow, favorite, something. Show me that love)**

**Sidenote: In this fiction Zara is going to be 4, but everybody else is the same age, K?**

**Oh and this will be a Bensaro fic! Should I continue?**

* * *

Chapter 1: Run or Die.

_"This is the way the world ends; not with a bang or a whimper, but with zombies breaking down the back door."_  
_― _Amanda Hocking.

* * *

Olivia's POV:

When it started Olivia was on the floor playing with Zara. Nick had wanted to take Maria out for a special evening, and she had been enlisted as a last minute babysitter. Not that she had minded.

"Oh, yes, Barbie. That dress looks very pretty," Olivia said in a ridiculously girly voice. Zara giggled and spun her barbie around in little twirls.

That's when the lights had started to dim. She hadn't really thought much of it, opting to ignore it and concentrate on the adorable little girl in front of her.

"Livvy, tired of playing, watch movies?" Zara asked, her little body squirming excitedly.

"Of course, baby girl," Olivia said enthusiastically, her knees were really starting to hurt in this position. As she got up, her eyes immediately wandered to the table on which she'd set her firearm. Olivia was a cautious person, she wanted to make sure Zara couldn't reach it.

Zara had already hopped up on the couch, and was trying her best to flick through the channels. Olivia grinned at the beyond cute sight in front of her, and took her place next to Zara.

"What do you wanna watch, cutie pie?" Olivia asked, running her fingers through the little girls soft curls.

"Movie with yellow square, Livvy!" the little girl said happily, looking up at her expectantly.

Movie with the yellow square? Olivia was confused, but she doubted she could get more detail out of the little girl.

"You know, square and pink starfish!" Zara explained further.

"Oh, you mean Sponge bob, baby," Olivia chuckled, taking the remote from the girl's hands and flicking it over to the appropriate channel.

As soon as the shows song started playing, Zara lost all interest in her, instead focusing on the large t.v. Pulling her phone out she checked for anything new, she had one text from Nick.

_Nick: How's it going with my devil?_

She smiled at his message, and responded with some good news for him. _She's fine, we're fine. Watching cartoons._

Nick and Maria were bound to come home any minute now, it was getting late. Zara was an amazing little girl, but she could feel the exhaustion in her body. She had come straight over after work to babysit. So far it had been going good, she'd played with Zara, fixed her some macaroni, and now was watching cartoons.

Olivia tapped out of her messages, and entered the News app she had downloaded. She scrolled down the titles until one in particular caught her eye, it was posted two hours ago. "Hospital Patient attacks healthcare providers, believed to have rabies."

Rabies? It had been awhile since she'd heard that one. Shrugging she continued looking at her news feed, the rest of the titles were fairly normal. Zara began to loose her enthusiasm for Sponge bob, now she was dozing off, her little head kept falling over onto Olivia's lap.

Smiling, Olivia grabbed the remote and flicked the t.v off. It was past Zara's bedtime anyway. Just as she was about to pick the little girl up and take her to bed, there was a loud banging on the door, and on the side of the house?

Was Nick home already? Why didn't he just use his key?

Olivia got up from the couch and crossed over to the front door, looking out the peephole. There was something blocking the lens so she couldn't get a clear view out. Moving to the window, she parted the blinds and looked out.

On Nick's front lawn, was a crowd of people banging on the house, trying to get in. They looked sickly, some were foaming at the mouth, others just had a crazed look in their eye. On the street Olivia could see people running, and others chasing. What was going on?

Backing away from the window, Olivia grabbed her firearm off the table, making sure it was locked and loaded. An arm busted straight through the wooden door, and Olivia flinched, raising her gun in reflex. There were too many of them to take on, and she only had about a minute before they busted down the door completely. Sticking her gun in the holster on her hip, she grabbed Zara off the couch and held the sleeping girl in her arms.

It would take time that she didn't have to get to the backdoor, the closest room was Nick's bedroom. Lifting Zara's limp form higher on her hip, she jogged into the bedroom, quickly scanning it. It had a window. Setting Zara down on the bed, she rushed over and tried to get the window open. It was rusted down. Fuck!

She could hear the front door breaking down. She didn't have time to think, so she grabbed the lamp off Nick's bedside table and slammed it through the window, clearing the little pieces of glass out of the frame. God, this was insane. She heard a loud crash come from the living room, and then a loud groaning sound. They'd completely broken down the door. She stepped back and grabbed Zara's sleeping form off the bed, holding the little girl tight, and looking out the window. Nick's bedroom was on the first floor, but it was still raised, quite a big jump. There was no way she'd be able to just step out with Zara in her arms.

There was a heavy slamming on the bedroom door. She had to go for it, there was no way she could stay here. Olivia acted, covered Zara's head with one hand, and threw her body out the small window. She landed hard on her back, Zara on top of her.

"Olivia?" The little girl asked sleepily, her eyes starting to open. Olivia heard Nick's bedroom door bust through with a loud crack. Using all of her strength, Olivia pushed up off the ground, holding a groggy Zara tightly to her. She could see into Nick's bedroom from the window, people were swarming in, a few of them were headed for the window she had just busted out of.

Readjusting Zara, she took off at a sprint. She didn't know where she was going, she wasn't at all familiar with this neighborhood, but she knew she had to get Zara out of there. She had no time to be confused, this little girl was counting on her.

People were crowding the streets, some were screaming, others running. Then Olivia saw them, crazies. Just like the ones that had busted into Nick's house, they were everywhere. That's when she noticed the bodies, they were everywhere too. People were bleeding out on their own lawns, and...others were feasting on them. She could feel the bile rising in her throat. Oh god.

"Livia? Why are we outside?" Zara asked, rubbing her eyes. She couldn't let the little girl see this gruesome scene, so she put a hand on the back of Zara's head and tucked the girl's face into her neck.

"Shh. Go back to sleep, baby," Olivia whispered, jogging down the street. Zara didn't question her, she just laid her head back down. The chaos was growing around her, people were pushing past her, screaming. She knew Zara wanted to look, but Olivia kept a firm hand on the back of the girls head. God. People were chasing other people down, and tearing into their flesh.

She heard a loud moan from behind her. She'd been spotted. Olivia had to act fast, she saw a car that had been left on in a driveway. All she had to do was get to that car. Olivia ran for it, the thing behind her ran too. Thankfully her background as a detective gave her a slight advantage, and she ran as fast as she could. Zara finally raised her head, and let out a scream as she took in the chaos around them. That of course attracted the attention of the other lunatics, and more of them joined the chase.

Almost there. Zara was squirming in her arms, but Olivia just held on tighter and kept moving. She finally got to the car, it was some type of Subaru, had four doors, and looked to be relatively new. Olivia quickly threw open the drivers side door and stuffed Zara in.

"Passenger side, Zara, now!" Olivia yelled, climbing in after the girl. Thankfully Zara had listened, and was buckling her seat belt. Olivia locked the cars doors. The keys were in the ignition, and the car was already running. Olivia didn't even want to think about what had happened to the owner. The people that had been chasing them slammed into the side of the car, and Olivia jerked back, shifting the car into gear and backing out of the driveway. They hung onto the sides of the car, but Olivia just kept going, quickly turning the car onto the street.

"Olivia, I want daddy!" Zara cried from beside her.

"I know sweetheart, we're gonna see your daddy real soon," Olivia said in a soothing voice, trying to ignore the fact that she had live human beings hanging off the car that she had just stolen. She quickly pressed the breaks, and that sent most of them flying. She turned on her wipers, trying to get the blood off the windshield. Olivia quickly shifted the cars gears again, and spun around the corner. Looking in the rear view mirror she could see the insanity that she'd just escaped from.

People were lying in the street, some were running, there was so much blood. Olivia took her eyes away. She didn't want to think about how she'd just barley managed to get them out of there. What was going on? Then her mind flashed to Nick. Oh god, Nick. Taking one hand off the wheel, she dug into her pocket and retrieved her phone. She had one bar of good signal. Clicking Nick's name she held the phone up to her ear, and tried to calm her breathing.

"_Olivia!_" Nick answered, he sounded panicked. "_Where are you? Is Zara okay?_"

"Nick, she's fine. Don't go home, it's overrun. What's happening?" Olivia asked, trying to keep her voice calm for Zara's sake.

"Daddy!" the little girl cried from the passenger seat, suddenly cheering up.

"_Oh thank god_," Nick breathed. She could hear him reassuring Maria in the background. "_Maria she's fine_!"

"Nick what's going on?" she asked, trying to keep the car steady as she talked. Zara's crying had stopped, and now there was the occasional little hiccup or whimper.

"_I don't know but it's real bad Liv, where are you?_" Nick asked, he sounded so relived.

"Meet me-" the phone clicked. "Nick? Nick?" she repeated. Looking down at her screen her heart dropped. _Signal Lost._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Fuck the Police.

"_It's amazing how fast the world can go from bad to total shit storm."  
_

_-Zombieland_

_Oh and a sidenote, watch out. Mommy Benson's a bad ass!  
_

_Sidenote: I'm no gun expert so sorry about the vague detail, remember this will be mainly a romance story with only some action. So..these first few chapters are just me letting Olivia be badass. Sorry. _

* * *

Olivia's POV:

Olivia Benson was stuck. She wanted to get Zara out of the city, but the only way to go was by highway. She wasn't so sure that was good idea. She was parked on the street and it was chaos, she could only imagine the New York highways. She wanted to get out, but she also wanted to keep herself and Zara alive. She couldn't exactly afford to take a gamble, with a four year old in the passenger seat.

She knew that tons of other people probably had the same idea, that would mean tons of traffic. This was New York, so yeah, the highway was out. Plus, even if she managed to get through the highway, where would she go? What if this was a widespread epidemic. Driving through the city's streets had given her a better perspective on what exactly she was dealing with.

If Olivia had to guess she would say it was some type of illness that was affecting people, something that made them aggressive, immune to physical pain. She'd seen one of them take a gunshot and keep coming. Whatever this was Olivia had never seen anything like it, which made this situation so much more difficult.

She had her partners daughter asleep in the passenger side of her stolen car, there was some type of horrific illness spreading across the city, and she didn't know what to do. She knew she couldn't stay parked here for much longer, she hadn't been noticed yet, but she was a sitting duck. Starting the car, she turned around. If it had just been her, maybe she would've tried the risky option of taking the highways, but she had another life that she was responsible for.

Looking over at Zara, she smiled sadly. Olivia had been trying to stay positive, but the fact of the matter was, that she didn't know if Nick or Maria were alive. Yes, she'd spoken to them on the phone, but the city had gotten worse since then. There was just no way to know. She hoped that they were still fighting, but until they showed up, she was responsible for Zara and she would make the decisions. Sighing, she scanned the street. There were tons of cars out tonight, but Olivia managed to navigate fairly easily. She also managed to block out the blood curdling screams coming from just outside the window.

People were being murdered by other people and she was just driving right by. She didn't feel right about that, but she had to protect Zara. Zara was the only thing that mattered right now, and she had to get the little girl somewhere safe. So Olivia just ignored all the screams, the crying, the begging. She ignored the blood that surrounded her, and she focused on getting through the lines of cars that were scattered on the streets. She got up on the sidewalk if she had to.

She didn't know what was happening but she did know one thing. She needed weapons. The infected were killing machines, and they were hungry. There would be no rationalizing with them, they would take you down and kill you, then eat you. Olivia was fully prepared to do what she needed to do, her police training would come in handy here. She needed more fire power, and there was only one place she knew to get it from.

The Police Station! They had guns, but she would be taking a chance that it wasn't already over run. When people wanted to feel protected where did they go? The police. All Olivia had on her was her service weapon, and by the looks of the city around her she was going to need a lot more than that, and soon. When she turned the next corner, Olivia knew exactly where she was headed.

~X0~X0~X0~

When she pulled up, at first she didn't know what she was looking at.

There were people everywhere, screaming, on the ground, and then you had those people who were eating their fallen brothers faces off. Olivia knew she was taking a risk, but Zara was still asleep, and if she was quick..she could get in and get out. She knew exactly where the weapons were kept, knew in a crisis like this most of the officers were probably down, or dead. So she shut off the cars lights, and shook Zara awake.

"Livvy? Did you find daddy?" Zara asked, still half asleep.

Olivia smiled sadly, "No baby, but I need you to do something for me, okay?"

Zara nodded, her lower lip trembling.

"I need you to be brave. I'm going to go in that building over there, and get us something we need," Olivia said. "I need you to stay here, keep your head down, and stay very quiet until I get back, can you do that for me, Zara?"

Zara just nodded again and Olivia smiled. "Good, baby, that's good."

"You're coming back right, Livvy?" Zara sniffled, grabbing her hand.

"Yeah, baby. I'll be right back," Olivia said, smiling at the little girl. "On the count of three, I'm going to get out, and you're going to put your head down. Ready?" Olivia asked, putting her hand on the handle.

"1," Olivia took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. "2," She smiled reassuringly at Zara. "3."

She quickly opened the door and climbed out, closing it back. Zara was out of the way, if she stayed still nobody would notice her. Just another abandoned car on the street. Pulling her weapon from the holster, she inhaled, and ran around the car. Olivia's ears were ringing, there were shots all around her, screaming, moans of desperation. The horrible sounds of flesh being torn, people being murdered made her want to cover her ears and fall to the ground, but she held herself together. For Zara. Running towards the station, she was just another body in the swarm of chaos.

"You've got this," she breathed to herself, over and over.

She was being pushed, shoved, and a few people had tried to take a bite out of her, but Olivia kept steady. So far, so good. The front door was off it's hinges, so Olivia just raised her weapon and pushed her way in. Gun shots were all around her, some officers were down, some were still trying to protect the civilians that littered the precinct. 'Ignore them' Olivia thought, 'Just load up, get out.'

Thankfully it was so crowded in the building that Olivia managed to blend in, looking like another panicked civilian. She got to the weapons locker fairly easily, nobody was guarding it. She doubted anybody cared. She quickly grabbed a Police duffel off the shelf and looked at her options. SWAT kept their assault rifles here, so Olivia of course went for those first, loading her bag up with a semi-automatic, pump action, and a bolt- she also grabbed sufficient ammo. Then she grabbed a few handguns and holstered herself up, putting the ammo in the bag- she'd load up later. Finally she took a single shot gun, and some shells. That should do. Loading her heavy pack of lethal weapons on her back, Olivia exited the armory.

Things in the station had only gotten worse, there were now double the number of bodies on the floor. Pulling out her own loaded handgun, she raised it and began working her way through the uninfected people. Thankfully as soon as people saw the gun, they had the the good sense to move.

"Hey! She's got the guns!" somebody shouted from behind her, and suddenly she was in the line of fire. Olivia didn't even think, she pulled the trigger of her weapon and ran for the door, shooting as she went. Bullets were raining down behind her. Before this illness had started Olivia would've never even thought of shooting another officer, but they were shooting at her, and this wasn't the normal world anymore. She kept firing off rounds.

"Stop her! Bitch has got some heavy duty in that bag!" That's when the infected came swarming in, effectively stopping the attack on her. There were so many of them Suddenly they were all on the same team. One of them approached Olivia, and Olivia's finger pulled the trigger, landing her bullet into the man's chest. He just kept coming, so Olivia pumped another one off in his head. He dropped. Olivia backed up, shooting as she moved away from the swarm. In their haste to escape, Civilians just painted huge targets on themselves. The infected tore them apart within seconds. Olivia winced as she witnessed a man get his arm bit off. It was a bloodbath.

The front door was jammed up with the sick, so Olivia had to figure out plan B and fast. Hopping over a desk, she shoved her way through the crowd, and made for the back exit. She was right in front of the door when a uniform stepped in her way. Jesus, he was just a kid.

"I can't let you leave with those, ma'am," his voice was shaky, and his weapon was drawn but his hands were trembling so badly it looked like he might drop it.

Olivia pointed her gun up. "Come on, move," Olivia murmured, looking over her shoulder. "I have somebody waiting on me, and I'm getting out of this building," she yelled, poising her finger over the trigger. "Please move, don't make me shoot."

The officers behind her were loosing the battle against the infected, and Olivia didn't have a lot of time. The kid seemed to realize that his fellow brothers were going down and apparently he didn't want to die with them. He put his gun down and ran out the backdoor first. Olivia sighed with relief and exited after him, running out into the parking lot.

The kid didn't even have a chance, as soon as he stepped out he was taken down. He'd managed to fire off a few shots, but that only attracted more, she watched with horrified eyes as his head was yanked back, and teeth sank into his neck. These people were tearing him apart. His blood splattered all over Olivia. She cried out as she realized she couldn't help the poor kid. His death gave Olivia the chance to run on by, she mentally said a prayer for him as she sprinted by, trying to drown out his screams. Of course there were a few that followed the fresh meat, but Olivia was managing to out run them.

Just as she was about to reach the car, she turned and shot off a few rounds. She missed the first few times, but then she got lucky and got one straight in the head. Olivia skidded around the corner, nearly tripping as she sprinted the last few feet to the car. She was a fit woman, and she couldn't be happier with that fact right now. She was relived to find the car just as she'd left it. Quickly climbing in she threw the keys in the ignition and took off, looking over at Zara.

Zara had tears in her eyes. "You came back, Livvy." The little girl smiled, rubbing the wetness off her round little cheeks.

"Of course I came back baby, I told you I would," Olivia smiled back, reaching over and ruffling the girls hair.

"Are you hurt?" Zara asked, pointing to Olivia's clothes. Olivia looked down. Her shirt was soaked through with other people's blood.

"No baby, just had a few accidents," Olivia managed calmly. It's just blood, just blood, just blood, she repeated over and over in her head.

She hadn't gotten to take off her backpack before she'd gotten into the car, so the weapons were digging into her spine like crazy. Carefully she untangled herself, and managed to keep the car moving at the same time. Once the bag was in the backseat, Olivia truly allowed herself to breath. She was amazed she'd just done that, she'd stolen weapons from the police. Oh god.

If she was honest with herself, she was really just going off of every apocalypse movie she had ever seen. She knew she'd need weapons sooner or later, so she'd gotten them. Now she needed food and shelter. No way in hell could she run through another mob, she'd barley made it out the first time. Stores were out. She had food at her apartment, but what if it was already over run as well?

"Where are we going? Home?" Zara asked hopefully, perking up.

Olivia shook her head sadly, "No baby, we can't. I'll figure something out."

"What about mommy and daddy, are they coming?" Zara asked, keeping the questions coming.

"I don't know, baby. We'll see them real soon," Olivia lied, not wanting to upset the girl.

Having nowhere else to go, Olivia decided to try her apartment building. With the weapons she had in the backseat, she was fairly confident about their chances. If her building was too infested with infected she'd figure out something else.

~X0~X0~X0~X0~

Pulling up outside her building, Olivia checked her gun. Still had half a clip. From outside the place looked deserted, but Olivia couldn't be sure. She looked at Zara and nodded her head, Zara put her head down. Olivia climbed out of the car, hitting the ground immediately. If there were any infected, she didn't want to be spotted. Crawling over to the door of the backseat, Olivia pulled it open, and yanked the bag out. Quickly standing, she raised her weapon and scanned the parking lot. Nothing.

With a sigh she threw the bag on the hood of the trunk, unzipping it. She'd start with the handguns. She strapped two thigh holsters on, and put on two over her shoulders. She quickly loaded the guns with ammo, and slid them in their places. Next she grabbed a pump action shot gun out of the bag, and loaded it up. Yes, she would have to reload frequently but the shot gun held a lot of fire power. Bullets would easily penetrate skulls, and that seemed to be the only thing that took the infected down. Strapping the shotgun to her back, Olivia opened the back door and threw the bag back in.

"I'll be right back to get you Zara, don't move." Olivia said, smiling reassuringly. Zara whimpered, but kept her head down.

Olivia pulled her shot gun out, and moved towards the entrance of her building. The halls were strangely empty. Lowering herself into a crouch, she continued on, making her way up the steps to her apartment door. It was deserted, nobody was in the halls. That's when she saw one, he was slumped down, his head was barley connected to his body. This man used to be her neighbor.

Olivia set her shotgun down and pulled a gun from her thigh, aiming it at his head. His blood splashed over her face as she put him out of his misery. Olivia was in shock, her feelings were turned off. Looking away from the fallen form of the guy, she continued on, still keeping her body low, and moving slowly. She could see her apartment door, she could also see the two shadows in front of it. Moving closer, she raised her gun, preparing to shoot. That's when one turned around.

Nick. Olivia gritted her teeth and kept her finger on the trigger, ready to fire if he came any closer. Oh god. Was he infected? Her breathing stopped for a solid second, waiting for him to move. He still looked the same, he didn't look sick, but Olivia wasn't willing to gamble her life.

Then he raised his hands, and walked towards her. "Olivia?"

Oh thank god. She kept her gun pointed at him. "Are you infected?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"No. No," Nick chanted, moving even closer. "I swear, where's Zara? Is she alright?" he asked, his voice sounding shaky.

"Zara's just fine, Nick," Olivia started to lower her gun. Then she caught sight of Maria. "What about her?" Olivia asked, gesturing to Maria.

"We're both fine, Olivia," Nick sighed, keeping his hands raised.

Olivia nodded, and stood. She had to go get Zara. Just as she was about to walk away, Maria ran towards her. Olivia's gun automatically went back up. "Don't come any closer, Maria." Olivia warned, keeping her finger on the trigger. "I will shoot you, this I promise."

Maria nodded, and backed up into Nick.

"I'm going to go get Zara now. You don't touch her until I inspect you, got it?" Olivia asked, her tone quiet. She hated being so cold to her partner, but she didn't want to take a chance on Zara becoming sick. She didn't know what had happened to Nick or Maria, they could both be infected. She didn't know how long it took for symptoms to start.

Walking backwards, Olivia kept her eyes on them. Then she turned and quickly sprinted down the stairs, going to get Zara.

~X0~X0~X0~

When Olivia reached the car, she first checked on Zara. The little girl still had her head down, and had fallen asleep. With a relived smile, she got the guns out of the back first, strapping the pack to her back. Then she grabbed the car keys and stuffed them into her pocket, they might need the car later. Next she grabbed the sleeping little girl out of the passenger seat, and held her carefully.

Carrying her into the building, Olivia only hoped there were no infected waiting to pop out. She didn't want Zara to have to see her blow somebody's brains out. She quickly carried Zara's limp form past the guy she'd executed earlier. When Nick first caught sight of Zara, Olivia could see the tears streaming down his face. He smiled at her and gestured for her to pass him. She carried the little girl down the hall, past her parents, and to her apartment door. Looking over her shoulder at Nick, she motioned him forward with her head.

"Nick, very slowly, get my keys out of my pocket," Olivia requested, trusting him enough to let him touch her. He slowly followed her orders, making no sudden movements. As soon as he got the door open, Olivia rushed in. She heard Nick and Maria follow. Her apartment was just as she'd left it.

She carried Zara back into her bedroom and tucked the little girl in, before going back out into the living room to talk to her partner.

~X0~X0~X0~X0~

Authors Note: Thanks for reading. If you liked it, please review!

Bensaro starts next chapter! Hell yeah!


	3. Chapter 3

World War: Bensaro.

Chapter 3: To Build A Home.

* * *

_There is a house built out of stone_  
_ Wooden floors, walls and window sills_  
_ Tables and chairs worn by all of the dust_  
_ This is a place where I don't feel alone_  
_ This is a place where I feel at home._

_ And I built a home_  
_ for you_  
_ for me_

_ Until it disappeared_  
_ from me_  
_ from you_

Authors Note: Yes, Maria's going to suck in this fiction. Why? Cause I hate her. She's horrible. Sigh. Keeps Bensaro from being together.

* * *

Olivia's POV:

With a groan, Olivia hoisted her bag of weapons onto her coffee table. She needed something to do and her rifles needed to be prepared. Olivia started with the semi-automatic, quickly pulling the ammo out of her bag, and starting to load it up. It had been quiet so far, but she wasn't expecting it to last.

She'd determined that Nick and Maria weren't infected, which had been a huge relief. They'd been in her bedroom cuddling with Zara for the past few hours. A nice family reunion. Olivia was happy for them. She was happy Zara got to keep her family.

Where exactly that left her, she wasn't sure. She'd brought Nick his daughter back, what now? Did she stay? Did she leave? She was fairly confident she could keep herself alive. She had over four handguns strapped to her body, a shotgun on her back, and three heavy duty rifles in front of her. She would be okay if she left. Olivia just wasn't sure she wanted to leave. What if they wanted her gone?

She didn't want to think about that right now.

There was a noise from outside the front door. Olivia ignored it and moved on to the bolt rifle, trying to keep her hands steady as she filled the clip. Was the peace over already? The noise continued, so Olivia put down the rifle she'd been loading and grabbed a gun from her hip. Moving towards the front door, Olivia looked out the peephole. It was the lady who lived next door, and from what Olivia could see, she was infected. She had to deal with this before it attracted more. She didn't want to use her gun, the noise would attract unwanted attention. She'd have to put this one down manually.

The door to her bedroom opened, but Olivia didn't look in that direction. Instead she moved to her kitchen, and grabbed a knife off the counter.

"Olivia?" Nick's groggy voice sounded from behind her.

The lady outside let out a moan, and started scratching at the door. Olivia had to take care of it now. Moving towards the door she unlocked it, and opened it slowly. She stood off to the side, Nick's eyes got wide as he saw what she was doing. As soon as the woman shambled over the threshold Olivia was on her. She could see Nick's mouth opening but she couldn't make out the words. She grabbed a fistful of the woman's hair, yanked it's head back, and dug the blade into the woman's head. Because the woman was struggling so much, Olivia missed the first time, but she just kept swinging. She finally managed to penetrate the skull, and hit the brain.

The woman stopped struggling. Olivia dropped her. A few tears ran down her face as she dislodged the knife from the poor woman's skull, and drug the body into the hall. The rest of the hallway was clear, so Olivia just stepped inside and locked the door back.

She leaned against the door, turning her face away from Nick. She let herself cry.

"Liv.." Nick murmured, moving to come closer.

"I'm fine. Sorry," Olivia said, moving from the door and dumping the bloody knife in the sink. "Nick, do me a favor?"

"Yeah?" Nick questioned.

"My bedroom, in the closet, can you grab me a new shirt? I don't want to disturb your family, but I'm uh-" she pointed down to her blood soaked shirt.

"Oh, yeah," Nick said, backtracking into her bedroom. Olivia leaned against the sink as she waited for him to come back. Olivia was disgusted with herself. Nick came back with a black shirt and Olivia gratefully accepted it. He turned around while she unbuttoned her ruined shirt, and slipped the clean one over her head.

"I'm decent," Olivia said softly, putting her hair into a ponytail.

"Olivia, I- I wanted to say thank you," Nick murmured, "I can't imagine what you've been through, but you kept Zara safe, and I owe you."

"Don't thank me, Nick," Olivia said coldly, turning away from him. "I've done nothing heroic tonight. I have however put multiple people down like rabid animals. That woman who I just murdered, she's been living across the hall from me for eight years. Her name was Christa. Brought me a cake on Christmas. I just put a fucking knife through her skull, Nick!" Olivia shook her head. "God. I went crazy, Nick."

"Liv," Nick whispered, pulling her into his arms. "You did what you had to do. Those things, they aren't people anymore, Olivia. They are infected, and if you don't kill them, they will kill you. You did the right thing, I promise you," Nick said into her ear.

Olivia buried her face in his neck, and nodded. Letting him hold her for a few seconds more, Olivia finally pulled back. "Thank you, Nick," she gave him a shaky smile. Olivia returned to her living room, sitting down and grabbing the last rifle. The pump action.

"Liv, you have some heavy equipment, where did you get it?" Nick asked, taking a seat next to her.

Olivia snorted, and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "You really wanna know?"

He nodded. "Robbed a police station," Olivia laughed at the irony. Next to her Nick laughed too. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. God, it was a crazy idea," Olivia shook her head, still lightly chuckling. "Do you still have your weapon?" Olivia questioned.

"Yeah, I used it to get us here. I figured you would come back to your house," Nick said. "Maria was going out of her mind."

Olivia set down the last gun, starting to put them all back in the bag. She'd loaded them all, she didn't need to pull them out unless she needed them. "How bout you, I'm sure you were driving yourself crazy, I know you Nick," Olivia smiled.

"I actually wasn't," he said softly, looking at her. "She was with you. I know you too, Liv, and I know she was in the best hands."

Olivia smiled and stood up. "Thank you, Amaro," Olivia moved back towards the kitchen. "We have to start thinking realistically now."

"What?" Nick questioned.

Olivia opened her fridge. The power had only been out for an hour. "I have some ham, a box of juice, a few jugs of water, and left over steak in my fridge," Olivia said. Closing the door, she moved to the cabinet, "In here I have bread and some cans. Peas, corn, yams, soups," Olivia finished.

"We can eat ham and steak tomorrow, the water and cans should last us about a week," Olivia said with a sigh.

Nick's eyebrow raised.

"I didn't have time to shop," Olivia explained with a small smile.

"Nick? Babe, where are you?" a voice came from the bedroom. Olivia quickly returned to counting cans. Maria hadn't spoken to her since Olivia had pointed a gun at her head, which was just fine with her. A conversation with Maria was bound to be awkward.

"I should uh-" Nick pointed to the hall.

"Yeah, you should," Olivia said, continuing her search for canned food.

"Goodnight, Liv," Nick smiled, starting to back up.

"Night, Nick."

~X0~X0~X0~

Olivia was laid on the floor of her kitchen, drinking juice out of the carton. It was going to go bad anyway, might as well enjoy it. Raising her arm she looked at her watch.

It was 10 AM. She'd been up all night gathering food, and staring at the front door. Olivia had never slept much to begin with, and now she just couldn't. She was terrified she would wake up and she would be surrounded by Zombies or whatever they were called.

Resting her head on the cold tile of the floor, Olivia raised the carton for another sip. This was potentially the last thing of orange juice she would ever drink. That was a strange thought. Shrugging, Olivia closed her eyes for a second. Even though she knew that sleeping was out, she could still relax. One good thing about this outbreak, was that everything was so quiet. There was no city traffic, it was almost like all the noise had been sucked from the world overnight. Olivia opened her eyes, she didn't like not being able to see her surroundings.

She could see the sun shining through the curtains in the living room. It was strange how the sun still looked the same, she had expected a red sky, something more dramatic. But the sky looked the same as it always had, the clouds lazily drifting through an endless sea of blue. Taking another swig from her juice, Olivia gurgled the liquid before swallowing. She wanted to savor this moment.

She never imagined herself being in this position. She was drinking her last carton of juice, laying on her kitchen floor, thinking about the sun. There were murderous cannibals taking over the world. She almost laughed. This was so fucked up.

She heard her bedroom door open, and somebody enter the bathroom. This was the third time somebody had took a bathroom trip. Olivia felt creepy for knowing that. Humming to herself, Olivia traced little patterns on her stomach with her free hand. God, she missed television. Now all she had to do for entertainment was talk to herself.

The person left the bathroom, and entered the bedroom again. Olivia didn't mind giving up her bed. Not like she would've used it anyway. No, she was much more comfortable on the kitchen floor. That way she could see the front door, and was close to her weapons. She really wanted some coffee, but it probably shouldn't be a top priority to go loot a Starbucks. She would just have to make do with juice.

The bedroom door opened again. Damn, how many times do these people pee?

"Livvy?" somebody whispered from the living room.

"Yeah?" Olivia sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Where are you, Livia?"

She recognized Zara's voice. "Kitchen, baby girl."

A few seconds later Zara's little from was in front of her. "Hey, Livvy," Zara smiled happily.

"Hey, sweetie," Olivia smiled, holding her juice up for the girl. "Thirsty?"

Zara hurriedly took the offered juice, and drank greedily from it. Olivia sat back and watched with soft eyes. When Zara got done, she handed the now half empty carton back. Olivia screwed the cap back on, and put it back in her useless fridge. She'd let Nick and Maria finish it off.

"I'm hungry," Zara whined, rubbing her tummy.

"Well, do you want a sandwich?" Olivia asked softly, grabbing the counter and lifting herself up. She was a bit dizzy from where she'd been on the floor all night.

"Yes please, Livvy." Zara jumped up and down.

Olivia reached into the cabinet and grabbed the bread, then the ham. She quickly made Zara's food and handed it to the girl. She led Zara to the couch, and helped the little girl get up on the cushions.

"You know, I have a coloring book and some crayons, wanna color?" Olivia asked, smiling broadly. Zara nodded, and chewed her food. Olivia quickly got the little girl the book and crayons. She heard movement in the bedroom, and figured Maria or Nick were probably up. Olivia smiled at Zara and went back into the kitchen, sitting down on the floor.

Sure enough, the bedroom door opened a few seconds later. "Mommy!" she heard Zara call. "Wanna color?"

"Not right now, Zara. Where did you get the food?" Maria asked, her voice questioning.

"Livvy. She made me this and she helped me color!" Zara exclaimed happily. Olivia blushed and leaned her head against the bottom of the counter.

"Where did she go?" Maria asked.

"Kitchen," Zara directed. Olivia grimaced and braced herself. She really wasn't looking forward to this. She quickly stood up. Maria came around the corner a second later.

"Hey, Maria. Sleep good?" Olivia asked, smiling at the other woman.

"Yeah. Thank you."

Olivia just nodded and crossed her arms awkwardly. "Uh- food?" Olivia offered, gesturing to the bread.

Maria nodded her head and looked at Olivia expectantly. "yeah, it's right there," Olivia continued, not understanding why Maria was looking at her. Then it clicked. Maria expected her to make her food for her? "Are you kidding me?" Olivia asked.

Maria just kept looking at her. Olivia smiled politely and made her way around the woman, leaving her standing in the kitchen. Yeah, that had been awkward. She'd also come close to punching her in the face. Unfortunately there was nowhere for her to go, she was trapped here with the woman. Sitting on the couch, she watched Zara color. Leaning back against the cushions, she closed her eyes and leaned her head back.

She just needed a minute to relax. A second to breathe.

She could hear Maria in the kitchen. It was an infuriating sound. Olivia didn't even know why she was so pissed, she was just seething. She used to deal with assholes all the time. This was no different.

Maria made her own food, but made it crystal clear she was pissed at Olivia. She'd stomped through the apartment, made Zara get up, and then took Zara back into the bedroom. Fuck. Olivia had always been great at pissing people off.

Shrugging, Olivia picked up a crayon and started coloring where Zara had left off.

~X0~X0~X0~


End file.
